ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed against the planned auction of five Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and one in Islamabad, enabling the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to proceed with the sale, scheduled for Aug 7.

Shortly after the issuance of a short order by the division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif, NAB Rawalpindi announced fresh auction of six properties of Bahria Town at NAB office in Islamabad’s Sector G-6/1.

The properties are being auctioned after Malik Riaz was declared an absconder in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.

Reacting to the development, Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz Hussain said they were willing to participate in any arbitration and implement its decision, if they are granted a chance to “return to serious dialogue and a dignified solution”.

In a post on his official X account, he claimed government agencies had been exerting unprecedented pressure over the past few months, which included the arrest of dozens of staff members, the freezing of the company’s bank accounts, seizure of vehicles and other stringent measures, which had paralysed all of the Bahria Town’s operations across the country.

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“The situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan,” said the statement attributed to Malik Riaz.

“Trillions of rupees of investment by millions of Pakistanis in Bahria Town from Karachi to Lahore and Islamabad have been frozen,” he claimed.

Court proceedings

Representing Bahria Town in court, senior lawyer Farooq H. Naik earlier argued that NAB’s auction notice was “illegal, deceptive, and issued with mala fide intent”.

He said the properties were being wrongfully targeted as Bahria Town was not a party to a plea bargain agreement. He said Bahria Town was also not named as an accused in any reference related to the £190 million case. He warned that the auction would set a dangerous precedent, undermining due process and investor confidence.

However, NAB prosecutor Rafay Maqsood contended that Bahria Town’s chairman and his son Ali Riaz defaulted on payments after entering into a plea bargain under the £190 million settlement. As a result, NAB initiated steps to recover the outstanding amount under Section 33E of the NAB Ordinance, 1999, by auctioning the pledged properties.

Mr Maqsood said the petitioners approached the IHC after a trial court had dismissed a similar plea. He said the high court had initially stayed the auction on June 12, the same day when the sale was scheduled. Subsequently, NAB filed an application to vacate the stay against the auction.

Bahria Town’s legal team had consistently argued that the company was not involved in the £190 million corruption case, which originated from a 2019 settlement between the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Malik Riaz.

With the verdict now issued, the auction will go ahead as planned on Aug 7.

Auction tomorrow

After the vacation of the stay order issued by the IHC against the auction in June, the NAB announced the auction of the six properties on Thursday.

According to the anti-graft watchdog, successful bidders would have to pay 5pc of the value of the properties on the auction day, 10pc in a month and remaining 85pc in three months.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, NAB listed the six properties including corporate offices on Plots 7-D (having estimated value of Rs871m) and 7-E (estimated value of Rs881m) in Bahria Town’s Phase-II, Rawalpindi; Rubaish Marquee and Lawn in Islamabad (Rs488m), Arena Cinema (Rs1.1bn), Bahria Town International Academy (Rs1.07bn) and Safari Club (Rs1.2bn), in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi.

The accountability watchdog also filed a reference against Malik Riaz, some Sindh politicians and others in February over the transfer of land to Bahria Town.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025